Another good crowd at the beautiful and/or historic South Broadway Athletic Club for MMWA. The winter weather wasn't THAT bad in my area, all things considered...we've seen far worse than this.
MMWA has done a better job of setting things up ahead of time...in the recent past, you'd be lucky to know any of the card prior to the show. This time around, we knew four big matches ahead of time as well as the Lumberjacks' retirement bout.
Senior referee Jim Harris is also hanging up the striped shirt...I think he's appearing at SICW next weekend in East Carondelet but I don't know if he's reffing any matches there. The referee's job is a tougher one than an outside party might think; you don't always appreciate the ref's role in a match until you see an official who's not quite as polished. We're lucky to have quite a few good referees in this area who don't always get the respect they deserve. Other names that come to mind are Jay King, Eric Davis, and Luke Roberts(when he's not in another role in the show)...if there are other names that are slipping my mind, feel free to drop them in the comment section.
The show also featured appearances by TNA officials Earl and Brian Hebner as they officiated some of the bouts. Earl's history in the wrestling business is well documented...something happened in Montreal, I think.
Battle Royal: The opening event was preceded by some verbage from Heavyweight Champion Brandon Espinosa(alongside Battle Royal Champion Lynn Mephisto). Lately Espy has been pushing the "old vs. new" line of thinking, encouraging the newer competitors to rise up against the "old-timers" like Gary Jackson, The Lumberjacks, and Moondog Rover. That may have impacted some of the participants as several of them ganged up on Rover to eliminate him first. Former Battle Royal Champ Osborne was out fairly early, to my surprise. Gary Jackson made a ringside appearance, distracting Mephisto long enough to cause his elimination. It came down to an unlikely winner; Webmaster Stevie K managed to eliminate Jackson Whitechapel to earn his first title in MMWA.
Brian James vs. Brandon Gallagher: This was my first time seeing Gallagher at South Broadway; he worked the SICW show in Hillsdale and I THINK he may have been at a previous South Broadway show that I didn't attent. James is OVAH. Fine bout; James won in 4:55 with the sitout gourdbuster.
Moondog Rover vs. J-Mal Swagg: I guess this was face/face. Whitechapel showed up to continue his feud with Moondog...I jokingly lamented the lack of a higher power at this point. :) Swagg won by DQ at 3:32 when Rover beat him down with the bone Whitechapel threw into the ring.
A.J. Williams vs. Jimmy D for the T.V. Title: D defeated Williams earlier this year for the vacant championship(after previous champion Dave Vaughn left MMWA in favor of SICW). D lost the title to Brian James but regained it a few months later. A.J. would eventually win the title from D, resulting in A.J. vacating the Junior Heavyweight Title he already held. The two cost each other matches in last month's King Of St. Louis Cable Tournament, so we had this bout. The match itself was solid; it seems like A.J.'s best matches are with a "grounded" opponent who can work as a foil for his aerial arsenal. Brian Hebner was the referee for this one and had a rough night; he was bumped aside at one point, allowing Jimmy D to hit A.J. in the midsection with his baseball bat. One Flatliner later, Jimmy D had become a three-time Television Champion in 9:13...like his now-beloved Red Sox, he won the championship where the St. Louisan had come up short. Well played...HEEL~!
Intermission saw the annual visit from Santa Claus, prompting a lot of kids to get in line to deliver their gift wishes...of course, intermission wasn't quite as "brief" as it is often advertised. :)
Andrew Wilder vs. Da'Marius Jones vs. Ace Hawkins for the Junior Heavyweight Title: After A.J. forfeited the belt, Wilder defeated J-Mal Swagg for the vacant championship. He cheated to retain against Hawkins a few months ago, then interfered against Ace in a contenders' match with Da'Marius Jones so that Jones would win. Hawkins pinned Wilder cleanly in the King Of St. Louis Cable Tournament last month, only for Wilder to cost Ace his semifinal bout with Mephisto. Wilder was the obvious heel with two face challengers...but only one man could walk away with the gold.
So, we had this triple threat matchup...it got a lot of time(14:36). Most of the match was Wilder vs. Hawkins as Jones was knocked out of the ring...at some point, wrestling just universally agreed that these matches were no-countout-no-DQ. If one person got counted out or disqualified, then which of the two remaining wrestlers would "win"? I was a bit worried about Earl Hebner officiating the bout as I wondered if he could keep up with the young punks...heh. Good matchup...Wilder won via opportunism as he pushed Ace off the top rope to the floor. As Earl was checking on Ace, Wilder hit Jones with a low blow and rolled him up for the win.
The Lumberjacks(Abe & Gabe) vs. Jackson Whitechapel & Flaming Freddie Fury: Commentator Sean Orleans managed Whitechapel at a previous show but was at his usual spot at the broadcast table here. I wondered if they couldn't have gotten some old foes of the Lumberjacks for their final match. This one was a bit shorter than the night's other matches; Whitechapel walked out on Fury and Abe pinned Fury after the double suplex at 7:50. The roster members came out to applaud Abe & Gabe's lengthy careers...they'd been around for a long time and that deserved some level of respect.
Brandon Espinosa vs. Dave Osborne for the Heavyweight Title: Gary Jackson lost to Espinosa by DQ last month, meaning he couldn't get any more title shots while Espinosa was champion. Osborne hadn't received a one-on-one rematch for the title since losing it in a triple threat match several months ago(Gary was the third participant). This would normally be heel/heel but Osborne played the face through process of elimination. This was set to be Jim Harris' last officiated match at MMWA...and it ended in controversy as a HUGE new wrestler hit the ring to attack Espinosa. That got Osborne DQed at 15:57...no idea who the new guy is or whether he was secretly aligned with Espinosa to ensure his title retention. Espy's night wasn't quite over, though...Brian James had his contract from the King Of St. Louis Cable Tournament win and he decided to cash it in!
Brandon Espinosa vs. Brian James for the Heavyweight Title: This was the first time the King Of St. Louis Cable title shot had been redeemed in this fashion...and it worked out well as I didn't see this development coming. Earl Hebner refereed the bout, such as it was...KICK WHAM SITOUT GOURDBUSTER and James won the title in a match time of fifteen seconds! Crowd went nuts for the title change...three out of the four active championships changed hands on this night!
Gary Jackson vs. Mephisto, chain match: The extra stipulation was added on the night of the show...something Mephisto complained about prior to the bout. He alluded to his checkered past in the building and felt he was being screwed over again...it was a wild brawl as expected and Mephisto was busted open fairly quickly. Espinosa's interference backfired, allowing Gary to tag all four turnbuckles for the win at 10:03...but Espy and Mephisto double-teamed Jackson after the match. They teased another spike piledriver but Brian James ran in for the save, setting up a tag match for the January show(not sure of the exact date...guessing the 11th but don't hold me to that).
Whew, that was a lot to talk about for the weekend. I thought about asking to sit in on the Beyond Wrestling taping at the Dynamo training center, but it had been a long few days and I'm still recovering from being sick recently. That's an interesting topic in itself: A wrestling shows with no wrestling fans?
WLW had a show on Saturday in Richmond, MO. Don't have full results yet, but Jack Gamble returned to the ring after the horrific car accident from a few months ago(saw him and his family at MMWA that night). Also, Dark Shadows was reportedly unmasked as David DeLorean...very interesting.
Anywho, 2013 wraps up with SICW in East Carondelet next Saturday. January's already looking busy with Dynamo in Fenton at the Stratford Inn, St. Louis Anarchy's benefit show, and the usual MMWA and SICW monthly events.
As always: #yaywrestling
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